The Family Business (Evy Story 21)
by quietandsneaky
Summary: Evy participates in her first real hunt. Takes place in the season one episode, Asylum.


**Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.**

 **A/N: This takes place in the season 1 episode "Asylum". Evy helps out on her first real hunt.**

 **I know it's been a while, but I'm still working on my Evy stories. I hope everyone's doing well!**

Sam hung up the phone with Caleb, and Evy pretended to keep doing her schoolwork as he talked to Dean. Once again, they were discussing how to find John. Sam brought up the idea of calling the FBI. Evy secretly agreed, but kept her mouth shut. She was still shy to voice any opinion during a hunt, even when asked. In what she knew would be an obvious, transparent attempt to get them to change the subject, Evy handed Sam her schoolwork to look over. He checked it briefly, smiled, and tousled her hair playfully. As she put her work away for Sam to mail off later, Dean stumbled onto a case. A cop in Illinois had killed his wife after visiting an asylum. John had visited the asylum before, and Dean wanted to go back. A brief argument between the two of them, and they were back out on the road again.

The ride to Illinois seemed to stretch on forever. Evy only had a little schoolwork left to do, so with Sam's permission, she spent the ride enjoying the scenery. At least, that was what she told Sam she wanted to do. The truth was, she was thinking. She had wanted to ask this before, but had been too afraid. The last case had been way too personal for Sam and Dean, so she'd decided to wait until the next one popped up. She had a slim chance of being successful at this, but she had to try. She wondered how to broach the subject, until Dean gave her a way to do just that.

"Hey, kiddo. You okay back there?" Dean asked.

Evy, who had been staring hard out the window, jumped at the sudden, unexpected intrusion. "What?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Dean said. "You just look like you got something on your mind."

"Well…" Evy said with a sigh. She turned around in her seat to face them rather than stare out the window. "I kinda do."  
Sam turned completely around, concerned. "You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah." Evy said. "I, um…" She choked; this was even harder than she'd predicted. _They're going to say no so you shouldn't even ask._ , the voice in her head said.

"Cricket, what is it?" Sam asked. "Come on, you can talk to us."

"I want to help." Evy said.

Dean eyed her thoughtfully from the driver's seat, and Sam froze. Dean was smiling and Sam looked as if he'd just been told that he would never be happy again. Based on their different reactions, Evy braced herself for another argument.

"I think that's great, kiddo!" Dean said.

"Dean…" Sam scolded.

"What?" Dean asked. "It's not like she hadn't earned it! The kid's been training her ass off. I say it's about time for her to spread her wings."

Evy smiled at the compliment from Dean, who glanced at her again in the rearview mirror and winked. Evy knew that with Dean's support, Sam's resistance could eventually be worn down.

"No." Sam said. "No, she's not ready."

Evy's heart sunk as she said, slightly wounded, "I _am_ ready." Did Sam not believe she'd been training hard enough?

"She's twelve!" Sam argued. Turning to Evy, he halfheartedly attempted to explain, "It's way too dangerous."

"Sam, she needs to start sometime." Dean said. "She'll be fine if you give her a chance."

Evy wanted to agree with Dean, but she kept her mouth shut. She knew that Sam would be much more easily convinced by Dean than if she tried to convince him. She knew that Sam wasn't reluctant because he thought that she was incapable. Quite the opposite. Sam had always been her biggest supporter. She remembered him arguing with John on more than one occasion over treating her like a baby. But ever since Jess's death just a few weeks earlier, Sam had been trying to keep her as close as possible. More than once, Evy had caught Sam staring at her as she did her schoolwork, or looking at her when she woke up. Evy realized he wasn't being overprotective just to be annoying or mean, it was because he was worried. More worried about her than he'd ever been before. Jess had been gone for almost six months now, and Sam wanted to keep Evy close to keep her safe. Evy watched the exchange between Sam and Dean, holding her breath.

"Dean, you were older than her when dad really started to let you hunt." Sam argued.

"That's because I was still helping him take care of you, genius." Dean answered. "But the two of us are fully trained hunters, and she's with us practically 24/7. She'll be fine."

Sam gave up, realizing Dean was right. Evy was with them practically every minute of every day. When they'd gone out on hunts previous to this, if she wasn't in the motel room with one of them while the other went out looking at a lead, she'd sat in the car or close by. There really was no reason to think she wasn't ready if she felt she was. Sam turned to a still waiting Evy, whose eyes were filled with hope and an eagerness to prove herself.

"You stay with one of us. The entire time. If you so much as wander off, even a few feet, and we can't find you, it's over. For good." he said. "Understand?"

Evy nodded and her face lit up with a grin. "Thank you, Sammy."

"I mean it. Not once. You don't get warnings here." Sam repeated.

Evy nodded again. Sam was strict with her sometimes, like right now, but was ultimately much fairer than John would have been in the same situation. At least he was giving her the chance.

"I understand." Evy answered. "Thank you." She said again.

It was Sam's turn to smile. "Love you, Cricket."

"Love you more."

The next few hours, Evy took her promise to Sam seriously. She made sure that she was able to see him and Dean the entire time, and listened carefully as the details of the story unfolded. They visited the asylum together first, and Evy was so happy they were finally allowing her a chance to help that she didn't even care when they started arguing about John again. She wondered to herself what possibly could have happened in the place to cause people to go crazy just by visiting it.

Eventually they found out. A riot had occurred where the patients basically took over the entire asylum. Patients and staff were killed, and, in Sam's words, "Some of the bodies were never even recovered." The rest of the patients had been transferred, and the hospital had been shut down. Evy spoke at the same Dean did.

"Angry spirits."

Dean grinned, impressed. "Very good, kiddo."

Dean proposed checking the hospital that night to test the theory, and Evy got a glint in her eye. Her first real chance to do something other than basic research. When Sam brought up the idea of her staying in the motel room or the car, her heart sank. Dean had helped her in the car earlier, but she knew that Sam still had the final say in deciding what she could do. She was surprised when Dean vetoed Sam.

"No. She comes with us. She's earned it."

Evy was even more surprised when Sam just shook his head and didn't argue. Evy grabbed Dean's hand and squeezed it in gratitude. Dean returned the gesture, and they went to prepare for the visit. Before going in, Sam grabbed Evy's shoulder and reminded her to "stay close".

"I _know_ , Sammy!" Evy replied, annoyed.

Evy so rarely lost her patience that Sam realized that he was, in fact, being annoying, so he threw up his hands in defeat. Evy walked in front of him and behind Dean. Dean had given her one of the small shotguns kept in the trunk, which was filled with salt rounds to scare off ghosts. As they walked inside, Sam couldn't help but want to change his mind and order Evy back to the car. She was twelve, not even a teenager yet. What kind of parent, and that was what he was to Evy, was he to let her go into a dangerous situation like this, carrying a loaded weapon? But Evy had worked hard over the last few weeks, training and doing her schoolwork like he'd required, and Sam knew if he didn't give her this chance, he was treating her no better than John would have. So he said nothing as they started their investigation.

Even Sam had to admit he was impressed. Evy didn't seem to be scared, at least not to the point of it making her unaware of her surroundings. She was careful, looking around and staying at all times where Sam could reach his arm out and grab her if necessary. Evy's first test came a few minutes after they arrived. Dean shot a ghost that appeared behind Sam, and less than two seconds later, another appeared behind Dean. Without hesitation, she raised the gun in her hand and screamed at Dean,

"Get down!"

Dean had been so focused on getting the ghost that was going after Sam than he had not seen the one behind him. He ducked, and Evy shot. Dean looked up and saw the ghosts' fading traces. With huge eyes, he looked at Evy, unable to believe her quick reaction. Unable to believe it, but prouder of her than he'd ever been before.

"Good going, kiddo!" Dean said once he'd gotten off the floor. He offered Evy a high five, which she gratefully accepted.

"Thanks." She said.

In a decidedly less enthusiastic tone, Sam agreed with Dean. "Good job, Cricket."

Evy noted Sam's lack of enthusiasm, and tried to brush off how much it stung. She loved that Dean was so proud of her, but she wanted Sam to be too. But now was not the time to talk about that, so she pushed on. A few minutes later, they found a girl named Kat hiding, who told them she had come to visit the asylum with her boyfriend Gavin. Dean tried to get her to leave, but Kat refused to go without Gavin, so they split up. Evy stayed with Sam, while Kat and Dean went off in another direction. They found Gavin, who was scared after finding a ghost, but appeared unharmed.

They found Kat and Dean again, who were facing another ghost down the hall. Kat was locked in with it, but escaped, and gave them a room number to investigate. Evy wanted to go with Dean to investigate the room, but when Sam grabbed her shoulder and prodded her to move, she knew it wasn't going to happen. So, without complaining, she started down the hall with them. Kat asked Sam a few questions about what they did.

"So, how do you know about all this ghost stuff?"

"It's kind of our job." Sam answered.

Kat turned towards Evy, and asked disbelievingly, "And you. You're just a kid. Aren't you afraid?"

"No." Evy answered. "Not really. I've known the truth about ghosts since I was three."

"Wow." Kat said.

After asking Sam a few more questions, the group came to a dead end. Sam realized there was no way for them to get out from where they were. Evy jumped when Sam's cell phone rang. It was Dean, needing him to come down to the basement. Sam was torn. He didn't want to leave Evy, but he didn't want her to go down to the basement either. Against all his better judgement, Sam told her,

"I'm going to the basement to help Dean. Stay here with them and _do not move._ Understand?"

"Got it." Evy said.

Sam took a long look at her before leaving. He knew she was trying, and he _was_ proud of her; but he was still having a hard time shaking the feeling that she was just a kid who shouldn't be doing this. _You shouldn't be either. You should be at home, in bed with Jess or studying._ Sam reached out a hand and patted her cheek, like he'd done to reassure her when she was little. Evy gently pulled his hand away.

"Go help Dean."

Sam nodded and walked away, and Evy waited. Everything was tense, but okay until a few minutes later. Evy heard a banging sound and footsteps. She gripped the shotgun in her hand a little tighter. When the footsteps got closer but she still couldn't see anything, Evy raised the shotgun without actually firing. From around the corner came a familiar voice.

"Don't shoot, baby girl, it's me."

"Dean?" Evy asked. "Where's Sammy?"

"He's not with you?" Dean asked.

"No." she answered.

"He went to the basement. You called him." Gavin explained.

"I didn't call him." Dean said.

"His cell phone rang." Kat explained. "He said it was you."

Dean nodded. He had not called Sam, but wasn't surprised that something was trying to lure them down to the basement. He knew that Sam would probably kill him for this, but he needed backup, actual backup, and Evy was all he had. So after asking if one of them could handle a shotgun, Evy handed her shotgun to Kat and went down to the basement with Dean.

Evy was the first to find Sam. She was surprised when he didn't say anything about her not doing what he told her to do in staying with Kat and Gavin. Right away she knew something was off. But not until she saw Sam pull the shotgun did she realize just how wrong things really were. Evy grabbed Dean's arm, but before she could say anything, she heard a loud bang and felt a burning, throbbing pain in her shoulder.

"Evy!" Dean screamed.

Dean was by her side in a second. He helped her sit up and examined her. Evy could barely contemplate what had just happened. Sam had shot her with the second rock salt gun. Dean kept as tight a hold on Evy as he could without hurting her shoulder even more.

"Sam, put the gun down."

"Is that an order?" Sam asked. The edge in Sam's voice made Evy shiver.

"More like a friendly request." Dean said.

Evy clenched her fist against a sudden shooting pain in her shoulder. She heard Dean say something else to Sam, but she couldn't quite make it out. Another loud bang, and Dean released his grip on her. Sam had shot him too.

"I am so sick of doing what you tell me to do." Sam said, moving a few inches closer to them. He turned to Evy and said, "And I am sick of taking care of you, you weak, whiny, pathetic little brat."

Sam's words hurt even more than the shotgun blast had. One of Evy's biggest fears had always been that she was a burden on her family. Dean waited to see if she would realize that Sam didn't mean it. Despite being in intense pain himself from his own shotgun blast, Dean felt his heart swell when she said,

"Sammy, you don't mean that. Let me and Dean go to burn Dr. Ellicott's bones. Please." she begged.

"No." Sam said. "And let me tell you something else…"  
Evy distracted Sam just enough that Dean was able to get up and knock him out. Dean checked on her one more time. Evy insisted that he go on and she stay with Sam. She did just that until it was safe, Dean had burned the doctor's bones, and everything was safe again. Sam woke up and pushed himself up slightly.

"You're not gonna try and kill us, are you?" Dean asked.

"No." Sam answered.  
Evy breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." she said. "Because that would be awkward."

Outside at the car, Evy stayed mostly silent as Sam and Dean said goodbye to Kat and Gavin. She _did_ know that Sam hadn't meant what he said inside, but the words still stung. And she knew he hadn't exactly been thrilled about her coming along on the hunt, and she wondered if his feelings had changed. Once Kat and Gavin were gone, she got the chance to find out. Sam apologized to Dean, who, in his words, wasn't "in the sharing and caring kind of mood". Evy kept her eyes on the ground, until she felt Dean put a hand on her shoulder. She winced a little; he had grabbed the shoulder that Sam had shot.

"Sorry." Dean apologized. "I just wanted you to know that I am really, really proud of you."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes." Dean said seriously. "You really impressed me today."

"Me too." Sam said. "Cricket, I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks." Evy said sincerely.

Sam noticed right away she was still upset. "Cricket, look, I'm sorry I hurt you. I'd never do that in my right mind. You know that, right?"

"I know, Sammy." she said. "It's okay. It wasn't really the shotgun that hurt though."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

Evy looked at him again, allowing the hurt in her eyes to show now that they were safe. "I'm sick of taking care of you, you weak, whiny, pathetic little brat?"

"Cricket, listen to me, please." Sam pleaded. "I did not mean any of that. Not a word. You are the farthest thing from weak. I get _my_ strength from _you._ And you are not a brat. Well, most of the time, anyway." Evy smiled at that. Sam tended to call her a brat playfully when she was begging him for something. "And you are most definitely not pathetic. You are brave, and strong, and you made me so proud of you of you today. Okay? Please believe that."

Evy didn't answer him, just grabbed his waist and hugged him tight.

"I love you, Cricket." Sam said. "I love you so much."  
"Love you too, Sammy."


End file.
